Of Brothers And Women
by Lightning Bee
Summary: "Never let a woman get in the way of family." Wise words from their father that Damon often finds himself thinking about. Songfic. Mentions of Damon/Katherine, Stefan/Katherine and Stefan/Elena. No slash.


**A/N: Yes, this is a songfic. The song is Impossible by Shonetelle (a song I personally don't like very much but frequently get in my head dammit!) Please read and then review upon exit. Thank you **

**Warnings: General spoilers for all season one.**

**Pairings: Mentions of Damon/Katherine, Stefan/Katherine and Stefan/Elena**

**Disclaimer: Damn, I see no ownership papers in my hand. **

**Song lyrics are in **_**bold itallics.**_

_**I remember years ago  
>Someone told me I should take<br>Caution when it comes to love  
>I did, I did<br>**_

Father had always told them never to let a woman get in the way of family, that their brotherhood made them strong and powerful. It gave them someone who they could always fall back on to no matter what happened, and for a long time they had followed this request. They'd been close, closer than any other two brothers in the region had been. They had never argued but maintained a healthy level of competition between them, nothing sinister or violent in any way. They both helped the other when they were in need of a comforting shoulder to cry on (though Damon would never admit to crying afterwards), supported each other with everything and even given advice to one another on girls. Those days were Damon's happiest by far, now only fading memories glowing dully beside his darkened thoughts, treasured by disappearing from his mind. It had had to change someday. He knew that. But he'd never thought they'd ignore their father's advice so completely. Yet they had because of her.

Katherine.

_**And you were strong and I was not  
>My illusion, my mistake<br>I was careless, I forgot  
>I did<strong>_

They'd fought constantly when she had arrived, subtle at first in their normal playful competition. Only the light-hearted competition started to get more serious and more cut-throat; both of them wanting to win even more than before to impress _her. _Their father had encouraged it, not realising how a void was growing between them until it was too late and the competition wasn't good-natured at all but ruthless and unforgiving; Damon becoming bitter when he lost and Stefan brooding silently when defeated so like they were now on a daily basis. Katherine had also supported the rivalry, rewarding the victorious brother in her own way while the other was left to stew in their beating and vow some sort of small revenge. She had completely broken down their relationship and though there were brief moments where they bantered like before they always had some sort of threatening undertone. The only time they were truly united being when they were trying to protect Katherine's secret. Protecting the one thing that was slowly tearing them apart.

And then their father had found out Katherine's secret through Stefan's stupidity because _of course_ anything their father gave them would be spiked; he was a hunter and he cared for his family. He wanted them to be safe. But Stefan had disregarded that and allowed Katherine to bite him because he was young and naïve. He trusted their father too much and Damon hated him for it. He'd unified with him (much to his hidden disgust) in a feeble attempt to save her and they had failed dismally, getting shot and killed in the process. Changing.

In the transmission stage Damon had forgiven his brother, believing he would be dead soon because he had decided not to drink; not to give into the thirst that would grant him eternal life, because without Katherine he was certain that it would be torture. He would have rather joined her in hell than lived without hope. Stefan, however, hadn't let him make that choice he'd craved. His younger brother had drank, bringing him a girl and tempting him because he was too scared to live eternity alone. Damon could sometimes still feel the gentle yet firm pressure of Stefan's hand on the back of his neck as he drank an eerie reminder of how his brother had forced him into his first meal of human blood. His hate for Stefan had returned straight after. After all, he had much to loathe; Stefan had selfishly stolen his right to chose away from him, taken much of the affections of the woman he loved, and condemned that woman to death at the hands of the hunters.

So he vowed to make his life miserable, and kept that promise because Stefan deserved it.

Didn't he? __

_**And now when all is done**_  
><em><strong>There is nothing to say<strong>_  
><em><strong>You have gone and so effortlessly<strong>_  
><em><strong>You have won<strong>_  
><em><strong>You can go ahead tell them<strong>_

_**Tell them all I know now  
>Shout it from the roof tops<br>Write it on the sky line  
>All we had is gone now<strong>_

_**Tell them I was happy**_  
><em><strong>And my heart is broken<strong>_  
><em><strong>All my scars are open<strong>_  
><em><strong>Tell them what I hoped would be<strong>_  
><em><strong>Impossible, impossible<strong>_  
><em><strong>Impossible, impossible<strong>_

Over a hundred years of hate and mentally torturing his brother later Damon learns the truth; Stefan had never been the cause of Katherine's death because Katherine had never died. She'd been alive all this time and neither of them had known. She had abandoned them. He had wasted over a century mourning someone who had simply left him carelessly behind, loving someone who hadn't been bothered enough to think about what she was leaving in he wake. The emotional turmoil and suffering both brothers had endured had been for nothing and Damon felt used. Worthless and forgotten, he finally realised what he understood he should have seen all along; Katherine was a monster. A manipulative little bitch who had destroyed his relationship with his brother, him as a person and his whole entire fucking world.

_**Falling out of love is hard  
>Falling for betrayal is worst<br>Broken trust and broken hearts  
>I know, I know<strong>_

_**Thinking all you need is there**_  
><em><strong>Building faith on love and words<strong>_  
><em><strong>Empty promises will wear<strong>_  
><em><strong>I know, I know<strong>_

His hate for Stefan quickly transferred to Katherine after that, Pearl's revelation being the final arrow through his shattered heart. He began to look elsewhere, hoping that someone would finally be there for him; someone he could actually love. A knife soon joined the arrows in his heart when he realised his feelings for Elena were stronger than he had first thought. He loved her.

Another cruel twist of fate that sent him tumbling into that familiar and terrible competition with his brother, because Elena belonged to Stefan and Damon would never be good enough to take her away from him. His brother always won nowadays. He didn't stand a chance. He'd never stood a chance; not with Katherine, not with Elena, not with anyone.

_**And now when all is gone  
>There is nothing to say<br>And if you're done with embarrassing me  
>On your own you can go ahead tell them<strong>_

_**Tell them all I know now**_  
><em><strong>Shout it from the roof tops<strong>_  
><em><strong>Write it on the sky line<strong>_  
><em><strong>All we had is gone now<strong>_

_**Tell them I was happy**_  
><em><strong>And my heart is broken<strong>_  
><em><strong>All my scars are open<strong>_  
><em><strong>Tell them what I hoped would be<strong>_  
><em><strong>Impossible, impossible<strong>_  
><em><strong>Impossible, impossible<strong>_  
><em><strong>Impossible, impossible<strong>_  
><em><strong>Impossible, impossible!<strong>_  
><em><strong>Impossible<strong>_

Then John Gilbert and his marvellous little gadget that the little witch girl had lied about was activated and Damon was found out, caught with nowhere to run. He'd fought it at first. He'd tried to beat the vervain weakening him and rendering all his efforts useless. He could admit now he had been scared when the fire had been started. Terrified of death and of the possibility of never seeing his brother and Elena again; never saying sorry for all of the terrible things he'd done; all the people he'd killed and all the hurt he'd caused. He had desperately wanted to escape. Then he watched as one of the many vampires killed the helpless mayor and his fear had left him. He realised he wanted to die because it was natural, wasn't it? He'd lived for so long for no reason. What was the point of living if there was nothing to live for?

So he gave up and embraced the fact he was going to die.

_**I remember years ago  
>Someone told me I should take<br>Caution when it comes to love  
>I did<br>**_

Stefan saved him.

He could hardly believe it after all the pain he'd caused him but his younger brother had saved his life, risking possible death in the process. A while later he asked why and Stefan's answer was short and simple.

"Because we're brothers."

And they were, and always would be. They just had to get their issues sorted. Damon needed to be less of a dick (although that was unlikely to ever happen) and Stefan needed to realise that not everything his brother did was with malicious intent (something that was going to take a while) but they would try and that was what mattered most. They were brothers and brothers should stick together, so they would stick together in future even if they hated each others guts later on in life.

_**Tell them all I know now  
>Shout it from the roof tops<br>Write it on the sky line  
>All we had is gone now<strong>_

_**Tell them I was happy**_  
><em><strong>And my heart is broken<strong>_  
><em><strong>All my scars are open<strong>_  
><em><strong>Tell them what I hoped would be<strong>_  
><em><strong>Impossible, impossible<strong>_  
><em><strong>Impossible, impossible<strong>_  
><em><strong>Impossible, impossible<strong>_  
><em><strong>Impossible, impossible<strong>_

Sometimes Damon looked back on his past and cringed at all the violence, bloodshed and empty words and other times he smiled, remembering the human days where all he had to worry about was his father's disapproval and if his hair was too long for a man of his status. Whenever he looked back though, whether it was at the good or the bad, he would always recall his father's wise words about family and always feel ashamed of how he and Stefan fought over girls, continuously disregarding what he had told them. Yet, in a way, Damon disagreed with him. He had always been cautious about love and if anything his fighting with his brother over women kept them together because they had a reason to be together.

Just like everything about them it was strange, but girls had never really come between Damon and Stefan. They just gave them a more rewarding reason to be around each other; competition. In the end, the fighting was what made them brothers.

And that was something that no girl could take away from them.

_**I remember years ago  
>Someone told me I should take<br>Caution when it comes to love  
>I did...<br>**_


End file.
